Frogs, Hesston split

It wasn’t exactly softball weather at Hesston on Thursday, but the Lady Greenbacks and the Lady Swathers took to the diamond nonetheless. The result was a split of the twin bill, Hesston winning the first game 5-2 and Pratt taking the nightcap 11-5.

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PrattTribune - Pratt, KS

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Posted Apr. 3, 2013 at 2:45 PM
Updated Apr 3, 2013 at 2:48 PM

Posted Apr. 3, 2013 at 2:45 PM
Updated Apr 3, 2013 at 2:48 PM

Hesston

It wasn’t exactly softball weather at Hesston on Thursday, but the Lady Greenbacks and the Lady Swathers took to the diamond nonetheless. The result was a split of the twin bill, Hesston winning the first game 5-2 and Pratt taking the nightcap 11-5.

The opener was mostly a pitcher’s duel except for one inning, the third, in which all the game’s runs were scored. In PHS’ 3rd at-bat, Taylar Fuhr led off with a bunt single. Destani Garten followed with a bunt single, and coupled with a Hesston throwing error, Fuhr scored and Garten ended up at third. She would score on an RBI groundout by Lauren Rambat.

The score was 2-0 Pratt at that point, but Hesston came back in their half of the 3rd, plating 5 runs, all of which were unearned. “We misplayed some routine groundballs,” PHS head coach Mike Forshee explained. “We made errors and gave up a couple of walks—we gave them too many extra outs. That’s very uncharacteristic of this team.”

“I don’t want to take anything away from Hesston,” Forshee continued. “They did what they needed to do to beat us.” Hesston took game one 5-2.

The nightcap was a different story as the Frogs got the bats going early, putting up a crooked number in the top of the first and never looking back. Rambat and Fuhr singled to open the game, then Bailey Gillig walked to load the bases. Brittnee Hill, Dakota Jones and Savanah Buntemeyer followed with consecutive doubles and it was 5-0 Pratt. Allicia Hall capped off the inning with an RBI single driving in Buntemeyer to stake Pratt to an early 6-0 lead.

Kinzie Spurgin toed the rubber for the Greenbacks for the first time this season, and held Hesston in check, only giving up 4 runs (3 earned) on 6 hits. Dakota Jones closed the game on the mound, pitching the last two frames and yielding just a single tally. “Kinzie made some good pitches and Dakota is improving her pitch location each time out,” Forshee said.

Pratt added on runs in the 3rd, 6th and 7th innings and ultimately prevailed 12-5. “I thought it was big when Hesston brought Denno back in (the pitcher who had throttled Pratt in game 1) for the 5th inning, and we scored 4 runs on 8 hits off her,” Forshee mentioned. “We needed to be able to do that for our confidence.”